My friend bought a Suzuki Hayabusa and riding atop this fastest production bike, he inched through suburban Mumbai traffic, stopping at the lights, in the admiring gaze of other bikers who were all on smaller Indo-Japanese motorbikes. Lifting his visor, expecting admiration and awe struck questions about the bike’s superior technology, tremendous power, unparallel speed or outrageous price, he was promptly asked the top question in most Indian motorist’s list, “What mileage does she achieve?”
Excuse the digression, but superfluous performance is rendered pointless in the face of functionality and efficiency, whether in this example or in the super powered mega containerships now slow steaming with empties aboard. Waking up to the hangover of frantic shipbuilding with modest enhancements, fuel efficiency will be a priority for owners, charterers and operators of shipping tonnage driven by commercial imperatives and a range of environmental, regulatory and social reasons.
Shipping emissions and efficiency issues are increasingly in sharp focus in the public eye with more transparency and KPIs being monitored and increasingly directing decision making in support of tonnage that promises lower emissions and higher efficiency.
On the emissions front, considerable work has been done through the MARPOL regime to lower SOx and NOx emissions and adoption of higher grade marine fuel and of development of technology and infrastructure to make LNG a widely used and commercially viable marine fuel. Most key bunkering jurisdictions have adopted stringent quality controls on fuel supplied and these measures are complemented by an increasingly sophisticated fuel analysis infrastructure globally.
There are several areas of technological and design improvements focusing on the optimizsation of the marine fuel’s combustion process and the minimisation of energy loss, be it from the plant itself or through the hull. The performance management systems available today include trim optimisation and hull fouling monitoring systems that are increasingly non-intrusive and easy to integrate making them suitable not only for new builds but also as retrofit on existing tonnage. The business case for such investments is often readily evident in the savings, particularly for large vessels operating on long voyages.
Not all areas of efficiency loss are because of hardware issues. The industry is investing more in increasing awareness and training personnel at sea and ashore on areas for maximising efficiency. Some areas of savings are indeed long standing measures like ME load management, effective weather routing and the careful management of autopilot settings. These are today complemented by further commercial initiatives such as the virtual arrival systems being adopted to allow reduced steaming when faced with port congestions and delays in cargo operations.
More novel ideas like solar panelled decks, air lubrication along the hull, sails and rotors often receive more attention in industry and public media. However, just like the motorist in our anecdote above, a tipping point seems to have been achieved with key stakeholders looking closely at the energy efficiency of shipping tonnage, which will ensure most above areas explored in combination. Looking through this prismatic crystal ball, shipping does seem greener on the other side.